Jim Harbaugh's recruiting approaches have always been a little... odd.
The Michigan Man has famously taken part in sleepovers, shirts-and-skins football games, and tree climbing all to impress the nation's top #teens.
But sometimes (or perhaps more often than not, judging by Michigan's recent recruiting failures), Harbaugh's antics backfire, as they did with five-star offensive lineman prospect Isaiah Wilson.
Wilson – a first-round pick in 2020 NFL Draft – was once a heavy Michigan lean, with 91 percent of the 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions calling for him to commit to the Wolverines over Georgia and Alabama.
Then, Jim Harbaugh happened.
“Harbaugh did something weird,” Wilson told Bartsool Sports' Bussin' With the Boys podcast. “He did something super weird.”
Turns out, Harbaugh was extremely insistent on his shoe game.
“Remember when they first got the deal with Jordan?” Wilson said. ”He just wouldn’t take off his cleats. He came to my in-home visit with cleats on his feet. And I have hardwood floors. And he’s just walking around with cleats bro. After that, it was over.”
Yes, Jim Harbaugh missed out on the No. 16 player in the country because he wore cleats inside his house, for some reason, and refused to take them off.
But it turns out, this wasn't exactly a one-time thing. It seems Harbaugh pretty much just always wears cleats. Former Michigan corner Jourdan Lewis said Harbaugh wears cleats on all the team's chartered flights – something a New York Times photograph confirms. Former Michigan wide receiver Amara Darboh even went as far as to say he's "never seen him in tennis shoes."
Jourdan Lewis declined to tell a "crazy" Harbaugh story but did reveal he wears cleats on the charter flights to games
— angelique (@chengelis) March 5, 2017
The best part of that Tweet is that Lewis does not consider that a "crazy" Harbaugh story.
Never change, Jimmy. Really, please never, ever change and stay at Michigan forever. These past five years have been nothing but delightful.
Image credit: Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press, Detroit Free Press via Imagn Content Services, LLC
